Windows PC bargain

After some deliberation because of adverse reviews I ordered an Asus X101ch netbook from Amazon last week. When it arrived I added a 4GB class 10 SD card running Readyboost, deleted the junk software that was not needed, added MS Essentials virus protection and got going.

Well, for under £170 new I am blown away! This little machine is great: I have already used it for WSPR and had my first JT9-1 QSO with it on 20m just a few minutes ago. Spectran seems to work too. For web browsing it is just fine. The screen resolution and clarity are good. I have not had it slow down once and it has, touch wood, not crashed yet.

In fact my view is this is an excellent little 10.1 inch Win7 netbook for the things I need. Although intended as a second PC for /P use (optical beaconing and VLF in the field) it is currently being used as my main PC and working beautifully.

The windows experience index by the way is 3.2, which I think is average.

Low cost netbooks and ReadyBoost

http://content.hwigroup.net/images/products/xl/132431/asus_eee_pc_x101ch_black.jpg

At the moment www.amazon.uk has a very good deal (£173) on the little 10 inch Asus X101CH netbook.  Reviews are mixed, but overall this may fit the bill for a small second PC that can be used to run simple (Windows software) tasks without much multi-tasking.  It should also be able to run WSPR or Spectran as long as nothing much else is required at the same time. There is a lot of bloatware supplied which probably slows it down for most novice users. With ReadyBoost installed on an SD card I think the 1GB of RAM should be less of an issue.

My question is have readers of this blog any experience of using ReadyBoost to speed up sluggish netbooks? Also, have any readers actually got an Asus X101CH and, if so, any views on its suitability for (single task) use with WSPR, Spectran or similar?